Buying ex-lease car-pros and cons please!

glossgal

Hi All,
Would appreciate some wisdom and advice to help me in the course of searching for a new (to me) car, am slowly losing the will to live comparing deals ahhh! Basically I've come across an ex -lease car on my travels, appears to be in good condition inside and out, full service history, reasonable if slightly high mileage the 'only' previous owner is a lease company. Dealer is franchised but not for the make of the car. They are keen to do a deal although I'm feeling uneasy as know nothing about these type of cars and don't want to pay over the odds. My concerns are:

1) What sort of discount should I expect for a car that is ex rental verses one that isn't. Current price is only £600 less than guides on Parkers/ What Car
2) Will an ex rental be harder or more costly to insure?
3) I've been offered free extended warranty but assume exclusions will be as long as my arm-is ex rental more likely to develop minor faults and thus cost more in the long run?

Any advice would be very welcome, cheers

KTF

First of all is it an ex-lease (1 owner, mainly motorway miles) or an ex-rental (cast of thousands, driven like they stole it)?

1. Not much if at all. Its probably cheaper than equivalent models due to the mileage.
2. No difference at all.
3. An ex-lease car will have been serviced by the book by a main agent with no regard to cost as the 'owner' wasnt picking up the bill. An ex-rental one will probably not have has as much attention.

An ex-lease car can be a good buy as its been well maintained. Some may have slightly more wear and tare due to the mileage, samples being taken in and out of the boot, holes from a phone kit, etc. others are unmarked and you would be hard pressed to tell the mileage.

glossgal

Thanks for that, I'm bit unsure now as it was referred to as a hire car initially then later just as being owned by a lease company, maybe I'm making up the rental bit! I will check, think hours in car showrooms is addling my brain

KTF

Well the majority of hire cars (some are direct from manufacturers) are owned by a lease company but then leased to Hertz, etc. so it wont say Hertz as the first owner on the V5 as they know that will put people off.

You can sometimes tell an ex-rental from the registration and the make of the car i.e. KIA rental cars tend to have London registrations, Ford ones Essex, etc. They tend to be sold on with 1 set of keys as well as the rental agency tends to keep one in case the person that rents the car 'forgets' to return it.

Ex-company car lease cars tend to be supplied by more local dealers so will have more geographic registrations and generally come with both keys as both keys are provided to the 'owner' on handover like a normal private car.

arcon5

Tbh, doesn't matter where you buy a vehicle from as you will never truly know how it was treated previously. So inspect it's current condition in comparison to mileague (if necessary hav the inspection done by a professional) then make a decision accordingly - like you would with any car.

With regards to the warranty, find out the terms of it before using that as a reason not to by.

Personally, it wouldn't bother me

glossgal

Interesting, the car I'm looking at then is fairly local and does have both keys so it maybe ok afterall, thanks

vikingaero

Lease cars with high mileages are often motorway cruisers which can be better than a low mileage car driven in stop/start conditions in urban traffic.

What car is it and how many miles has it covered? You could find that a high mileage car may be approaching its cambelt change or major service which could cost several hundred pounds and could be a bargaining point.

The pros to lease cars are that they are often maintained to the manufacturers servicing schedule, parts and paintwork will be repaired or replaced when necessary - so there is less likely to be skimping on work that needs to be done.

The cons to lease cars are that they are often driven as a business tool by the user who is often in a rush - so harsh use of brake, suspension, tyres and clutches etc. One harsh image of a sales rep is someone who bombs to his next appointment, switches off the engine immediately upon arrival and lets the turbo cook...

glossgal

The car's a 4 year old polo with less than 50k miles so not that high by their standards I suppose! I agree that there are good and bad sides though so may take a chance-if I get two years out of it and can sell on without too much depreciation then I'll have done ok

harveybobbles

4 yr old will be ex lease car.

I'd rather buy a company/lease owned car than a private one as private cars generally get faults passed on to the next owner. Lease cars get them fixed.